Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Idaho Aiming to Kill Wolves in the Wilderness....Again

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his
own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where
the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man
himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is
further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped Federal land
retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent
improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as
to preserve its natural conditions ...” ~ The Wilderness Act of 1964's definition of "wilderness"

According to Idaho's predator management plan
for the Middle Fork Elk Zone, Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG)
is at it again. The newly released plan reflects Idaho's aim to kill 60
percent of the wolves in the Middle Fork area of central Idaho’s
Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Why? All in the interest
of inflating elk populations for outfitters and recreational hunters.

This comes just weeks after IDFG hired a professional hunter-trapper
to pack into the states 2.4-million-acre wilderness area to eradicate
two wolf packs for the same purpose. In response to this unprecedented
move, a coalition of conservationists, represented by the non-profit
environmental law firm Earthjustice, asked a federal judge
in Idaho to halt the agencies’ wolf eradication plan. When the U.S.
District Judge for Idaho denied the plaintiffs’ case, the
conservationists took their fight to the court of appeals and soon
thereafter IDFG temporarily halted the program until the end of June
2014. A bittersweet reprieve, since nine wolves had already been
killed.

Earthjustice will be filing its opening brief later this week in the
Ninth Circuit proceeding. Earthjustice is representing the original
plaintiffs: long-time Idaho wilderness advocate Ralph Maughan, along
with Defenders of Wildlife, Western Watersheds Project, Wilderness
Watch, and Center for Biological Diversity in the case.

Statement from attorney Tim Preso of Earthjustice: “The state of
Idaho has made clear that it intends to double down on its plan to
transform the Middle Fork area of the Frank Church River of No Return
Wilderness from a naturally regulated wilderness to an elk farm
benefiting commercial outfitters and recreational hunters. The only
thing that is not clear is whether the U.S. Forest Service will step up
to defend the wilderness character of this landscape on behalf of all
the American people or instead will, as it has done to date, let Idaho
effectively run the area to advance its own narrow interest in elk
production. For our part, we intend to do everything we can to obtain a
federal court ruling that will require the Forest Service to protect
this special place and its wildlife."

The U.S. Forest Service administers the wilderness. Please consider
contacting the Chief of the Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, at ttidwell@fs.fed.us to remind the federal agency that:

Our nation’s wilderness areas are places for wildlife to remain as wild as is possible in today’s modern world.

Our nation’s wilderness areas are meant to be governed by natural conditions, not special interest groups.

Please be sure to tell Mr. Tidwell this is not just an issue for one Idaho wilderness area, but the U.S. Wilderness System.
Thank you and please follow the Wildlife News for updates.

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Located in South Salem, NY, the Wolf Conservation Center (www.nywolf.org) exists to educate people about wolves and their valuable role in the environment, and to help protect their future in the wild. The WCC is home to ambassador wolves that visitors can observe in spacious natural enclosures. We also have over 20 wolves as part of our participation in Species Survival Plans for critically endangered Mexican Gray Wolves and Red Wolves. To learn more about us or to arrange a visit, please go to our website and follow us on Facebook. Questions about the blog? Email us at nywolf.org@gmail.com